Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Friday 17 September 1999

Scottish Executive

Business

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will use powers under Schedule 12 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to make regulations with regard to Section 6 of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956, and in particular whether it will use the powers prescribed thereunder to make regulations in order to reduce business rates for smaller businesses.

Mr Jack McConnell: The powers under Schedule 12 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to make regulations with regard to Section 6 of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956 may be used to prescribe how the Net Annual Value (NAV) of lands and heritages is calculated. It would therefore not be appropriate to introduce a rate relief scheme for small businesses under these powers.

  Powers do exist in terms of Section 153 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 to prescribe the amount payable in non-domestic rates in respect of any lands and heritages. We will consider whether rates relief for small businesses is needed in the light of the results of the independent revaluation survey of the rates base (expected in late autumn).

Charity Shops

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the concern amongst traders and some community groups about the increased numbers of charity shops working under preferential trading conditions in the high streets of Scottish towns, and whether there is any research, planned or in progress, into the longer term effects of this increase on property prices, rates and rental levels and other aspects of town centre trading and shopping.

Mr Jack McConnell: Charity shops perform a valuable function and the principle of rates relief is long established. H M Treasury recently consulted on the whole question of charity taxation, including rates relief for charity shops. One of the suggestions in the consultation paper was to consider tightening up the legislation so that charity shops receiving rates relief are more clearly defined in terms of the goods they sell. We will consider whether to propose changes once the Treasury review is published

  It is often the case that charity shops occupy sites that no-one else wants and very rarely occupy prime retail sites. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) does not consider that charity shops present unfair competition to small shopkeepers.

  There are no plans at this stage for research to be carried out into this matter.

Culture

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are being made to ensure cross fertilisation between the focus group and consultation for the national cultural strategy and the work being done to implement the Sport 21 strategy.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The Focus Group members are already aware of the document Sport 21 – Nothing Left To Chance  and the important contribution it is making to the development of sport in Scotland.

Education

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the total spend by local authorities on transporting excluded pupils to alternative schools.

Mr Sam Galbraith: This information is not collected centrally.

Education

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers have been dismissed in Scotland since 1992 for failing to maintain professional teaching standards, broken down by Local Authority.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The information requested is not collected centrally.

  The Government wishes to ensure fair, supportive and effective procedures for dealing with teachers who cannot maintain professional standards. Such procedures should command the support of the profession and local authorities. HM Inspectors of Schools have recently completed a wide ranging study into the application of existing disciplinary procedures and I will be bringing forward proposals for consultation in due course.

Education

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to address the issue of homophobic bullying in schools.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Bullying of any kind is unacceptable, whatever the motivation, and should be addressed quickly and firmly whenever it arises. The Scottish Executive is funding the national Anti-Bullying Network to help schools across Scotland share good practice in tackling bullying and provide training and consultancy services to support schools and local authorities in developing anti-bullying strategies. The Network will combat all forms of bullying, including bullying which is motivated by racist, sexist or homophobic attitudes. We are also providing funding to Childline to secure the continued operation of their Bullying Helpline.

Education

Allan Wilson (Cunninghame North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional teachers, class room assistants and nursery assistants have been employed by each education authority as a consequence of the excellence fund.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The information is contained in Table 1. These are provisional figures taken from the Improvement Plans submitted by the education authorities earlier in the year. In some instances, the Plans provided do not specify the type of staff to be employed and in others, funds are devolved to schools. Plans were approved on the basis that the funding would be used to implement national objectives.

  TABLE 1

  Excellence Fund: Additional Teachers, Nursery Assistants and Classroom Assistants Employed

  


Education Authority 

  


Teachers 

  


Nursery 

  


Classroom 

  




 


 


Assistants 

  


Assistants 

  




Aberdeen City 

  

36 

  

* 

  

58 

  



Aberdeenshire 

  

20 

  

12 

  

42 

  



Angus 

  

14 

  

* 

  

9 

  



Argyll & Bute 

  

7.5 

  

16.5 

  

11 

  



Clackmannanshire 

  

5.5 

  

* 

  

10 

  



Dumfries & Galloway 

  

16 

  

* 

  

50 

  



Dundee City 

  

34 

  

6 

  

35 

  



East Ayrshire 

  

* 

  

* 

  

30 

  



East Dunbartonshire 

  

17 

  

* 

  

37 

  



East Lothian 

  

* 

  

* 

  

11.5 

  



East Renfrewshire 

  

9.5 

  

* 

  

36.5 

  



Edinburgh, City of 

  

30 

  

12 

  

72.5 

  



Eilean Siar 

  

5 

  

2.5 

  

5 

  



Falkirk 

  

15 

  

9 

  

61 

  



Fife 

  

16 

  

* 

  

54 

  



Glasgow City 

  

* 

  

* 

  

123 

  



Highland 

  

16 

  

* 

  

51 

  



Inverclyde 

  

4.5 

  

* 

  

24 

  



Midlothian 

  

2 

  

* 

  

22 

  



Moray 

  

25 

  

* 

  

22 

  



North Ayrshire 

  

19 

  

* 

  

48 

  



North Lanarkshire 

  

19 

  

28.5 

  

67 

  



Orkney Islands 

  

3 

  

2 

  

3.5 

  



Perth & Kinross 

  

17 

  

17 

  

26 

  



Renfrewshire 

  

16 

  

* 

  

75 

  



Scottish Borders 

  

* 

  

* 

  

20 

  



Shetland Islands 

  

1 

  

0 

  

10 

  



South Ayrshire 

  

14 

  

11.5 

  

20 

  



South Lanarkshire 

  

41 

  

* 

  

68 

  



Stirling 

  

8 

  

11 

  

21 

  



West Dunbartonshire 

  

22 

  

* 

  

43 

  



West Lothian 

  

* 

  

* 

  

20 

  



TOTAL 

  

433 

  

128 

  

1186 

  



  The staff are Full Time Equivalents

  The figures reflect specific references to these kinds of staff in the Improvement Plans. However, a number of authorities have, for some of their Improvement Plans, stated that they will recruit staff but have not specified the type of staff.

  *Not clear from the Improvement Plan

Employment

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether specific evaluative analysis is available regarding the Voluntary Sector strand of the New Deal programme in Scotland and, if so, whether it will publish its findings.

Henry McLeish: Employment Policy is reserved to the UK Government which therefore takes the lead on the funding and delivery of the New Deal throughout Great Britain, although in close consultation with its partners, including the Scottish Executive. Many partner organisations at local level also provide New Deal Services under contract or provide funds and other resources, including training funds to enhance the quality of New Deal in their areas. The public and voluntary sector organisations which contribute to the New Deal in this way fall within the remit of the Scottish Executive.

  The evaluation of the New Deal, including all individual strands, is conducted on a national (GB) basis. Samples are designed to be as representative as possible and evaluation reports are published by the Employment Service. Copies of the twelve reports published to date have been placed in the Parliament Reference Centre. In addition, a major quantitative survey of New Deal participants has been commissioned in Scotland and a report of the findings should be available in January 2000.

  Some further evaluation work of the Full-Time Education and Training Option in Scotland is being undertaken by HM Inspectorate of Schools in conjunction with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Island Enterprise. The outcome of this work will not be available until early in the New Year.

Employment

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether specific evaluative analysis is available regarding the Environment Task Force strand of the New Deal Programme in Scotland and, if so, whether it will publish its findings.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether specific evaluative analysis is available regarding the Employment Strand of the New Deal programme in Scotland and, if so, whether it will publish its findings.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether specific evaluative analysis is available regarding the Full Time Education / Training Strand of the New Deal programme in Scotland and, if so, whether it will publish its findings.

Henry McLeish: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing Scottish organisations, as indicated in the answer to S1W-1367 (also answered today). Information about the evaluative analysis regarding Full-Time Education and Training is included in that answer.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider making Local Enterprise Companies wholly owned subsidiaries of Scottish Enterprise.

Henry McLeish: We have no plans to so. The Scottish Executive however will keep the structure of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise under review to ensure the continuing efficient delivery of Government objectives.

Finance

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that, as a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review, Scottish expenditure on devolved matters will increase more slowly than expenditure on the equivalent matters in England and Wales over the next three years.

Mr Jack McConnell: Based on figures in the Public Expenditure: Statistical Analyses 1999-2000 the Scottish Budget grows on average by 1.7 per cent per annum in real terms over the CSR period, while UK Total Managed Expenditure grows on average by 2.8 per cent per annum in real terms. Scotland starts from a significantly higher base level of expenditure per head of population than in the UK as a whole. Figures for real terms spending in Scotland by programme are given in table 1.5 of "Serving Scotland’s Needs, the Government’s Expenditure Plans 1999-2000 to 2001-02", Cm 4215.

Finance

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the percentage increase, in cash and in real terms, by which Scottish expenditure in each devolved area will increase over the next three years and the comparable figures for equivalent matters in England and Wales.

Mr Jack McConnell: I refer the Member to the answer I gave to his earlier question (S1W-691).

Fisheries

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any recent representations from the Mallaig and North West Fishermen’s Association regarding amnesic shellfish poisoning and, if so, whether it will make a statement.

Mr John Home Robertson: The Scottish Executive received a letter from the Mallaig and North West Fishermen’s Association dated 20 August. The letter covered a range of issues, including amnesic shellfish poisoning. I have issued a reply to this letter.

Health

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to address delays in allocating elderly people in hospital in West Lothian places in residential or nursing homes given that placement dates in April and May 2000 are currently being allocated and that the number of vacancies in homes exceeds the numbers awaiting places.

Susan Deacon: Health Boards continue to work with their local authority partners in addressing all avenues to reduce and, where possible, remove delays in discharge from NHS Care.

  We are aware that an increase in referrals from St Johns Hospital for residential and nursing home places has resulted in an increase in the number of patients awaiting discharge in West Lothian. Lothian Health Board, the West Lothian Healthcare NHS Trust and West Lothian Council are working together to address the issue.

  The Trust is considering additional funding to facilitate the placement of a number of patients currently occupying orthopaedic beds and West Lothian Council is looking to temporarily increase the number of places in its residential care homes to meet the needs of 10 patients currently awaiting places in Council residential homes.

Housing

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the full text of the correspondence between the Minister for Communities and the Scottish Association of Law Centres relative to reform of the law on home repossession.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I have already made available the text of my letter of 30 June replying to the letter from the Scottish Association of Law Centres (Scottish Executive News Release SE0310/99 of 16 August 1999). It is for the Scottish Association of Law Centres to decide whether they wish to publish the text of their own letter.

Justice

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in the light of the outcome of the Alexander Reid appeal, it will lodge a similar appeal in relation to Noel Ruddle, and if not, why not.

Mr Jim Wallace: Mr Reid’s unsuccessful appeal to the sheriff, in 1997, was followed by judicial review of that decision, at Mr Reid’s behest, on points of law. The Lord Ordinary’s Judgement which favoured the Secretary of State was appealed by Mr Reid to the Inner House of the Court of Session. Their judgement was favourable to Mr Reid’s case. It was later overturned by the House of Lords in December 1998, on appeal by the Secretary of State. Mr Reid remained legally detained throughout this period.

  Mr Ruddle’s case is different. His appeal to the sheriff was successful. Legal advice to Ministers of the Scottish Executive was that an application for judicial review of the sheriff’s judgement would not have succeeded in overturning the sheriff’s decision, and would not have allowed Mr Ruddle to be kept in the State Hospital. We also concluded that the law needed to be changed. For that reason, no application for judicial review has been lodged.

Justice

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it accepts that there is reasonable doubt about any criminal prosecution of members of the public accused of non-compliance under the Skye Crossing Toll Order (SI 1992/1501) given the terms of section 5(2) of the Statutory Instruments Act 1946 whereby a statutory defence is provided to a person accused of non-compliance if they can prove that the Order in question was not published and given that the Register of Statutory Instruments 1992 describes the Skye Crossing Toll Order as "unpublished".

Lord Hardie: The statutory defence afforded by section 3(2) [not 5(2)] of the Statutory Instruments Act 1946 applies "in any proceedings for an offence consisting of a contravention of any such statutory instrument", that is to one "printed and sold by the Queen's printer of Acts of Parliament" as specified in section 3(2) of the Act.

  The Invergarry-Kyle of Lochalsh Trunk Road (A87) Extension (Skye Bridge Crossing) Toll Order 1992 (Statutory Instrument 1501 of 1992) is classified a local order in terms of regulation 4(1) of the Statutory Instruments Regulations 1947, and is, by virtue of the provisions of regulation 5 of the regulations and section 8(1)(c) of the Act, exempt from the requirements of printing and sale.

  The question is one of law. The test of reasonable doubt is a matter for the courts in determining guilt or innocence.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review or conduct an inquiry into the actions and advice of the Lord Advocate’s office from 19 March 1998 to date and, if so, whether the outcomes will be made available to the Parliament.

Donald Dewar: I have no such plans.

Local Government

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will recognise Renfrewshire Council’s case for continued European Structural Funding when it is negotiating with Her Majesty’s Government.

Mr Jack McConnell: The UK Government secured a significant success at the Berlin Summit, where agreement was reached to concentrate Structural Funds support on areas of greatest need while providing a safety net to limit reduction in Objective 2 coverage and transitional funding for areas losing such status.

  The First Minister and I are in close discussion with the UK Government to determine the Scottish areas to be included on the list of areas to be proposed to the European Commission for Objective 2 designation by the UK Government. We have held discussions with local authorities from the affected parts of Scotland to ensure that the needs of the most deserving parts of all areas, including from Renfrewshire, are being taken into careful consideration.

National Lottery

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding the Scottish Sports Council and the Scottish Arts Council have received from the National Lottery since the Lottery’s inception.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The proceeds received into the National Lottery Distribution Fund from the inception of the Lottery to 30 June 1999 allocated for distribution by the Scottish Arts Council amounted to £123,342,000. The proceeds allocated for distribution by  sportscotland (formerly the Scottish Sports Council) over the same period amounted to £125,039,004.

Parliamentary Questions

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-521 by Mr Jack McConnell on 23 August, how the £100 average cost of answering a Scottish Parliamentary Question was calculated and whether this average cost is a mode, median or mean average.

Mr Jack McConnell: The £100 average cost was calculated by estimating the amount of time spent by members of staff of the Scottish Executive on dealing with a limited sample of Scottish Parliamentary Questions covering a range of subjects. Staff time was costed to include, for each grade of staff, a share of the overhead costs of the Scottish Executive. The overhead costs are based on expenditure in 1998-99. The total value of staff time was divided by the number of questions in the study to arrive at an average cost per question of about £100.

  The preliminary work to assess average costs was undertaken over a short period and with a relatively small sample of questions so that a broad indication of costs could be provided quickly to members who asked for that information. The Executive intends to undertake a detailed study of the cost of answering questions over the coming months and will make the results of that exercise available to members.

Parliamentary Questions

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive , further to the answer to question S1W-521 by Mr Jack McConnell on 23 August, whether the reference to the £100 average cost of answering a Scottish Parliamentary Question being consistent with evidence from the UK Parliament means that the cost of answering Scottish Parliamentary Questions is (a) the same as or (b) different from the cost of answering UK Parliamentary Questions and, if it is different, whether the cost of answering Scottish Parliamentary Questions is more or less, and by how much, than the cost of answering UK Parliamentary Questions.

Mr Jack McConnell: The average cost of £100 for answering written Scottish Parliamentary Questions is an estimate based on preliminary work undertaken over a short period and using a relatively small sample of questions. The Executive intends to undertake a detailed study of the cost of answering questions over the coming months and will make the results of that exercise available to members.

  The last comprehensive exercise to assess the cost of answering Westminster Parliamentary Questions was undertaken in 1991. The resulting average cost figure is uprated on an annual basis. The latest published figure for the average cost of answering written questions is £115 (Hansard, 11 March 1999, Column 363). This reflects uprating to April 1998.

Police

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost incurred to date by Central Scotland Police is in respect of current disciplinary hearings.

Mr Jim Wallace: I understand that the force has still to estimate the cost of the disciplinary hearing of Inspector John Bunyan, which concluded recently. No other disciplinary hearings are currently in progress.

Police

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive to detail the increase or decrease in funding of the police force in Scotland every year since 1979 in real terms.

Mr Jim Wallace: Police authorities receive a specific grant of 51% of net eligible expenditure. From 1996-97 the level of grant has been subject to a cash-limit.

  The budgets for individual police forces are set by police authorities or joint boards and are not always set to claim the full amount of grant available.

  The table shows the amount of specific grant paid to police authorities from 1979-80 to 1997-98. The figure for 1997-98 includes £3.5m provided specifically for policing the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

  


Year 


Police 

  Grant (Real Terms)

  £000s 


Year-on-Year 

  Increase/(Decrease)

  £000s 



Year-on-Year

  % Change 




1979-80 

  

198,390 

  
 
 



1980-81 

  

201,812 

  

3,422 

  

1.72 

  



1981-82 

  

211,212 

  

9,400 

  

4.66 

  



1982-83 

  

223,367 

  

12,155 

  

5.75 

  



1983-84 

  

228,712 

  

5,345 

  

2.39 

  



1984-85 

  

235,366 

  

6,654 

  

2.91 

  



1985-86 

  

234,798 

  

(568) 

  

(0.24) 

  



1986-87 

  

244,269 

  

9,471 

  

4.03 

  



1987-88 

  

254,014 

  

9,745 

  

3.99 

  



1988-89 

  

260,094 

  

6,080 

  

2.63 

  



1989-90 

  

276,577 

  

16,483 

  

6.09 

  



1990-91 

  

274,754 

  

(1,823) 

  

(0.66) 

  



1991-92 

  

281,618 

  

6,864 

  

2.50 

  



1992-93 

  

295,198 

  

13,580 

  

4.82 

  



1993-94 

  

307,368 

  

12,170 

  

4.12 

  



1994-95 

  

306,716 

  

(652) 

  

(0.21) 

  



1995-96 

  

312,031 

  

5,315 

  

1.73 

  



1996-97 

  

311,629 

  

(402) 

  

(0.13) 

  



1997-98 

  

337,931 

  

26,302 

  

8.44 

  



1998-99 

  

337,500 

  

(431) 

  

(0.13) 

  



1999-2000 

  

343,316 

  

5,816 

  

1.72 

  



  The cash figures have been recalculated to show the equivalent real term figures at 1998-99 prices using the GDP deflator.

  The figures for 1998-99 and 1999-2000 are estimates

Recycling

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to allocate funds to universities to develop techniques to produce new products out of recyclable waste.

Sarah Boyack: I refer to the answer (S1W-868) I gave to Richard Lochhead on 24 August.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who will prepare the new strategy for tourism.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Tourist Board will prepare the strategy, working in partnership with the member organisations of the Scottish Tourism Co-ordinating Group which include the Scottish Tourism Forum, and under my direction.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which of the recommendations of the House of Commons Select Committee on Scottish Affairs’ Report on "Tourism in Scotland" (published on 21 July 1999) it (a) accepts, (b) is inclined to accept, (c) wishes to consider further and (d) rejects, and what the reasons are in each case.

Henry McLeish: We are preparing a new strategy for tourism which will address the issues raised by the Select Committee’s report. The strategy will be published in January 2000.

Transport

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will, in line with proposed legislation on transport, seek the re-opening of Laurencekirk Station to assist commuters taking the train into Aberdeen.

Sarah Boyack: I understand that ScotRail, Great North Eastern Railways and Railtrack are at present considering with Aberdeenshire Council the operational and financial implications of having Aberdeen-Glasgow/Edinburgh services make a stop at Laurencekirk. I await the results with interest.

Transport

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to designate the A701 Edinburgh to Moffat road as (a) a scenic trail or (b) an alternative tourist route.

Sarah Boyack: The A701 at Moffat is a local road for which Dumfries and Galloway is responsible. I will consider the case for designation once I have received a full submission from the Council.

Transport

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to respond conclusively to the studies prepared by Moray Council in 1998 for the National Roads Directorate in relation to the A95 Keith to Aviemore route, a Route Accident Reduction Plan for the A95, and an Inception Report for traffic calming measures in Keith.

Sarah Boyack: The final phase of the current A95 Route Accident Reduction Plan works is expected to go out to tender this month and to be completed within the current financial year.

  Other studies carried out will assist in the prioritisation of improvements on this route, such as possible traffic calming in Keith and Accident Investigation and Prevention work at a number of sites, if and when funding for such schemes becomes available.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it provided to First Group PLC for the implementation of their "Overground" network in Glasgow in respect of both start-up funding and annual contributions for the next 5 financial years.

Sarah Boyack: No funds were provided from the Scottish Executive to First Group plc. However, Glasgow City Council and West Dunbartonshire Council were awarded additional capital allocations from the first round of the Public Transport Fund totalling £6.05 million over the 3 financial years from 1999-2000 towards the cost of development of the Faifley to Bailleston bus corridor.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether similar funding to that made available to First Group Plc for the implementation of the "Overground" network in Glasgow on an annual or start-up basis has been offered to other bus operators, and if so, to provide details of these offers.

Sarah Boyack: No funds have been provided by the Scottish Executive to bus operators. However, a number of local authorities were awarded additional capital allocations from the first round of the Public Transport Fund towards the cost of developing bus priority measures.

Transport

Ms Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any plans for road charging will take account of the service rendered by charities transporting patients to specialist care facilities, and whether such groups will therefore be exempted from such a scheme while doing so.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive published its consultation document on road user charging and workplace parking levy schemes, Tackling Congestion,  on 13 July. The document seeks views on what national exemptions or privileges, if any, should be specified in legislation and what might be left to local discretion. The Executive would welcome views as to whether the service rendered by charities transporting patients to specialist care facilities should be exempt from any charging scheme. The consultation period ends on 30 September.

Transport

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct the management of Caledonian MacBrayne to meet with the Colonsay Community Council to agree an acceptable level of ferry service and timetable.

Sarah Boyack: No. Operational matters such as timetabling are for Caledonian MacBrayne to determine. Timetables for Colonsay and all the other islands served by CalMac are decided after extensive consultation through Shipping Services Advisory Committees (SSACs). Representatives from Argyll & Bute Council sit on the relevant Committee and it is through them that Colonsay residents can participate in the decision making process.

  The previous Government announced a review of consultation arrangements for passenger ferry companies in September 1998. The Highlands and Islands Integrated Transport Forum was invited to carry out the review and is due to report to Scottish Ministers soon.

Transport

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister has met with the Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne since Dr Mills’ appointment to that position and, if so, on what dates.

Sarah Boyack: No, the First Minister has not met the Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd since Dr Mills’ appointment to that position. However, I met Dr Mills on Thursday 5 August.

Water

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will re-examine the Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968 in order to re-define the Water Authorities’ duty towards clearing up pollution caused by deteriorating drainage infrastructure.

Sarah Boyack: The Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968 places duties on water authorities to provide and maintain drainage infrastructure. The 1968 Act does not deal with preventing pollution which is controlled under the Control of Pollution Act 1974. The Scottish Executive considers that these two Acts together provide an acceptable framework and there are no plans to re-define the water authorities’ duties.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Information Centre

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what the Scottish Parliament Information Centre’s budget for the current financial year is giving a breakdown on the basis of (a) information technology; (b) acquisition of reference and reading material and (c) staff salaries and what the projected budget is for the next financial year.

Sir David Steel: The Scottish Parliament Information Centre’s budget for this financial year of £163,250, to cover stock in whatever format is most cost-efficient. The budget for staff salaries is £620,862. The projected budget for the next financial year has not yet been decided. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Parliamentary Library

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what powers the staff of the Parliamentary library have to purchase documents, reference books and statistical information requested by MSPs; and if there is any current or proposed budgetary limit for such purchases.

Sir David Steel: The Information Centre has an annual budget of £163,250 for the purchase of whatever reference stock staff judge necessary to fulfil the anticipated information needs of MSPs, and maintain a central resource for the Parliament. MSPs may suggest items for Information Centre stock, which staff will consider for purchase.